Real Estate Video: The Value of Being "Cool"

Jul 30 2012

Real estate videos featuring Dallas/Fort Worth properties are a great way for realtors to offer their sellers top notch marketing. While pleasing the seller with excellent service, you also are showing prospective clients the level of marketing you will bring to the table in comparison to your competition, other agents.

But depending on the type of video you have created for your listing, you could be subjecting yourself to less of a return value. The decision you need to make lies in the answer to the question:

What do you want to get out of real estate video?

Don’t want to read the rest of the article? Check out the Real Estate Video – The Value of Being Cool summary below:

I place common real estate videos into three categories or types. Let’s take a look at each one, including pros/cons.

COOL FACTOR

Real estate videos in general all carry a cool factor because they are relatively new to the industry. Sure they have been used for years by some realtors, but today’s statistics show consumers are interested in video more than ever before. It’s easier to reach more viewers with video than it has been in the past thanks to the popularity of sites like YouTube and mobile devices like the iPhone and iPad.

Clicking on the example video you’ll see that for this article I am defining a COOL video as one that is produced with only cinematic effects and movements. You can see that the camera moves left and right at a slow pace, maybe forward or backward. But it never moves very far per shot. Although COOL, we don’t show the buyer anything they haven’t already seen int he photos, so we aren’t providing added value.

PRO: Looks like a movie.

CONS: It doesn’t show anything we don’t already see from the still photos. It doesn’t show the layout of the house, something video can do that still photos can’t. Although the movements are cool, it lacks interest. We have to ask ourself if it’s worth paying for content that can easily be obtained just by looking at the photos.

FULL OF VALUE

Full of value to both you the realtor, AND to the potential buyers of the property! This real estate video type is a walk-through of the property listing. Focusing on what the BUYER wants to see, the layout of the home is captured along with all of the living spaces. Taking as much time as necessary, some may say this real estate video method delivers a product that is too long in length.

But when you put yourself in the BUYER’s shoes, you quickly realize that you appreciate the new content, and the view of the whole home. These videos are to help market the property first and foremost. Buyers who are generally interested in the home will watch, and re-watch, the video.

In addition to providing the buyer with a more valuable product, you increase the value of your marketing material by providing a video that can actually be used during the home buying process when making decisions, instead of relying on the COOL factor.

PROS: The buyer sees value in being able to view the layout of the home. You provide the seller with a product focused on selling the property.

CONS: It’s only interesting to the buyers of the property, not the general public.

COOL AND FULL OF VALUE!

You are probably starting to see the reason why I offer the type of real estate video tours that are on this website. I want to make sure you get VALUE out of the video, and that it isn’t just wasted marketing dollars to look COOL. But no one video type is perfect for every real estate agent and every home – so we have the ability to combine the COOL factor AND Full of Value video types, to create a real estate video tour that is sure to please both sellers and buyers.

With the up-beat and energetic music and movements of the COOL factor combined with the walk-through style movements that focus 100% on our target audience, the BUYER, we are able to produce a video that not only looks cool, but is full of value! The walk-through portions take us through the property so the buyer can see the actual layout of the home. The COOL factor gives you, the real estate agent, more reason to brag about your video tours.

PROS: The buyer sees value in being able to view the layout of the home. The video features eye-catching cinematic moves sure to impress your seller and future clients.

Ultimately, you have the opportunity to use your real estate videos to get more listings. Make sure you know what type of video you would like to use and how you can explain the VALUE of that video to your sellers. If you go into a listing presentation with real estate video on your side, you are sure to win more business!